


Shattered

by blue_noize



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel)
Genre: Advanced Technology, Alternate Universe - High School, Aoba is adorable as always, Awkward Encounters, Childhood Friends, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Finally a fic where Noiz has the right personality, Fluff and Angst, Insane Dictator, M/M, Memory Loss, Noiz is a little shit, first fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-11 12:39:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4435841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_noize/pseuds/blue_noize
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!!<br/>Sorry, guys but Shattered will be on hiatus for a while.  I have a lot of stuff going on and I can only work on one story at a time, and I am like completely blocked for this story.  But give me a couple months and I'll get going on it again...eventually.</p><p>Being the new kid is always a difficult thing, but what are you supposed to do when everything you experience seems to pull at the memories you left behind?  Aoba didn't think that the people he would meet would be people he already knew.  A freak accident ripped those memories away.  Faced with what he had lost, Aoba meets Noiz, a computer genius with a shadowed past.  His coldness and dickish personality drive Aoba crazy, but he can't seem to get Noiz out of his head.  No matter how much Aoba tries to avoid him, Noiz is always there.  These two are thrown together time and time again as they uncover secrets about their school that were never meant to be found.  A secret plot to take control of the city, lead by someone they would never expect.  And only Aoba can stop it.  Though he can't do it alone.  He's going to need Noiz if he wants to protect those he loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. This Is Happening

**Author's Note:**

> I know where I'm going with this, but it is going to take me a long time to get there. This is my first fanfic, so bear with me. The chapter length varies depending on what I have planned, but the first chapter is short.

Being the new kid was never easy, especially when you happened to be almost three years older than everyone else. Aoba looked up at the school building, letting out a loud sigh.

“Is something wrong, Aoba?” came a voice from his bag. Aoba looked down to see a dark blue ball of fur pop its head out of the bag. He smiled when he saw the dark eyes of Ren, his Allmate.

“No, not really.”

“Then why did you sigh? You're outputting some strange waves.”

Aoba smiled again. Ren was always able to tell if something was bothering him. He always said stuff like “waves”, as if his emotions came off in a type of radio wave. It had never made sense to him.

“I'm just nervous. I haven't been to school in years...I'm nervous about what to do.”

As a bell rang, Ren flicked his ear at the sound. “I propose running would help.”

“What do you mean,” Aoba asked, his blue bangs falling into his eyes as he looked down.

“From what I researched about schools, when a bell rings, it is time for class. If you don't get to the classroom before said bell, you will be deemed tardy, and will get penalized.”

Aoba's amber eyes widened at the word “penalized.” It didn't sound good. Walking briskly, he made his way into the school. He didn't have a clue where he was going, and was starting to panic a little.

“Shouldn't I be going to an office of some kind?” Aoba whispered to Ren, not sure if he was supposed to be talking in the halls. There was nobody around, no students or teachers. He guessed that what Ren had said about class starting when that bell rang was true.

“Yes. In the email sent by the school last week, you are supposed to be going to a place called the, 'Main Office,'” Ren replied.

“But I don't know where that is.”

“Are you lost?”

Aoba turned around quickly to see a boy with red hair standing next to an open locker. Aoba let out a breath. The boy had scared him. Looking closer, Aoba saw a white ermine draped around his shoulders. It, too, was looking in Aoba's direction.

“Um,” Aoba said, putting a hand on Ren's head. “Yeah, I think I am.”

The red-haired boy smiled and shut the locker, the sound echoing through the empty halls. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he walked over to stand in front of Aoba. Feeling a little out of place, Aoba glanced around him.

“This place can get a bit confusing sometimes, but its easy to get used to. Are you new?”

Aoba nodded. “I'm supposed to start today, but I don't know where to go.” He paused for a minute, not knowing if he should let this random person know. Shaking his head, Aoba continued, “I haven't been to school in a few years, so I'm pretty new at this whole thing.”

The red-haired boy nodded, smiling. “I'm Mizuki, and I can bring you to the Main Office.”

“Aoba, and this is Ren,” Aoba said, taking the Allmate out of his bag. Seeing the ermine around Mizuki's shoulders had lessened his fear of getting in trouble for Ren. Ren looked up at Mizuki and lifted a paw in greeting to the ermine, who lifted its head when Ren was taken out of the bag.

“I am called Sheama,” the ermine said. It had a female voice, so Aoba took her to be a girl.

“Let's get you to the office,” Mizuki said, putting an arm around Aoba's shoulders, who raised an eyebrow at the contact.

“Okay...”

Leading him like that, Aoba walked down the hallway with Mizuki and then turned to his right to walk down yet another one. It wasn't long before Aoba saw chairs sitting in the hallway.

“That is the Office,” Mizuki said with a smile. He removed his arm as Sheama stood up from her lounging position, walked over his shoulders, and down his arm to rest on Aoba's shoulder.

“There you will find the Headmaster and the Secretary who will help you from here on out,” Sheama added, walking down Aoba's arm to his bag, and then down to the floor.  
“Thank you,” Aoba said, bowing slightly. Ren also bowed his head in thanks.

“No problem,” Mizuki replied, flashing a smile that almost seemed flirty. “I'm in class 3-A, so come say hi sometime!” At that, he turned on his heel to walk back the way they came, Sheama bounding along behind him.

_What a weird guy._

Aoba shrugged, set Ren down and walked towards the chairs. Poking his head into the room, he quietly called, “Excuse me?”

“Yes?”

Aoba looked to his right, he saw a slightly larger women, a bright smile on her face. Aoba noticed that she had one of the more fashionable hairstyles, her brown hair in almost a bob.

“Uh, I'm...Aoba Seragaki...” Aoba said, bowing slightly. “I was sent an email saying I was starting school today...”

“Ah, yes!” the lady said, standing up. As she did, a small Maltese walked around the counter, stopping in front of Ren. She seemed to look Ren over and nod. “I have all of your documents and such right here.” The lady handed a folder to Aoba and then continued, “You can look them all later. I can bring you to the classroom you will be in.”

Aoba nodded and followed the lady as she walked out of the room.

“What is your name?”

Aoba looked down to see the Maltese walking beside Ren, a little too close.

“Ren...” He looked up at Aoba with a distressed look, so Aoba scooped him up and held him in his arms.

“My name is Clara.”

“Its nice to meet you,” Aoba said, giving Ren a look.

“You will be in class 3-B, Aoba.” At the voice, Aoba looked up at the lady in front of him. He didn't know her name. “In the folder I gave you is a map of the school, so if you have trouble finding things, you can look at that. I am Ms. Yoshie, by the way.”

Aoba nodded again. He wasn't sure what to say in this situation. He could feel his stress level rising. He didn't know if he could do this. School was something he had always been nervous about. Having not been in school since before middle school, this was a new experience for him.

“Here is your classroom,” Ms. Yoshie said, holding out a hand to the door. She pushed her glasses up her nose and flashed a smile at Aoba. “If you need anything, you can look through your folder, or you can contact me through Clara. My information is also in the folder.” She smiled lightly at Aoba once more as she put a hand on his arm. “I'm sure you are going to like it here, Aoba. Its a nice school. Just...be careful of the groups.”

Aoba raised an eyebrow. “Groups?”

“You'll see.” Without another word, Ms. Yoshie turned and knocked on the door, which she opened a few seconds later. “Mr. Haga? I have a new student for you today.”

“Ah, yes, I heard about that. Have them come in.”

At those words, Aoba heard the melded together murmurs of the usual, “I wonder who it is?” and “Is it a boy or a girl.” And both genders were asking, “Are they going to be hot?”

Aoba gripped Ren a little tighter. This was really happening. After all those years of lessons in a hospital, it was finally happening. Aoba took a deep breath and looked down at Ren, who put a paw on his chest.

“Well, let's do this...”


	2. Wait, Who Are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some questions are proposed and some are answered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer, as I was getting the hang of writing a fanfic haha

Aoba stepped into the classroom. As he did, the murmurs stopped. He glanced to his left to see a classroom full of students wearing the same uniform as he, as well as many Allmates. Each student had an Allmate that would showcase their own personality. It was always fun to see how they matched up. Some Allmates were big buy quiet, and some were very small, but very loud.

When Aoba stood next to the teacher, a middle aged man with thick-rimmed glasses and a beauty mark on his left cheek, he bowed slightly in greeting. He had been doing a lot of that lately.

"Everyone," the teacher said, smiling at Aoba. "This is our new transfer student. He hasn't gone to high school before, so this entire thing will be new to him. Please, make him feel welcome and help him adapt to our school." Mr. Haga turned to Aoba and said, "You can introduce yourself now, and we usually have the other students ask a few questions just to get to know you a bit better."

Aoba nodded and took a breath, petting Ren's head, which always seemed to calm him down. He cleared his throat and began, "My name is Aoba Seragaki, and I'm...almost twenty years old. This is my first actual year of school since middle school, so all this is new to me. Uh..." He paused, not knowing exactly what to say until Ren licked his hand. "Oh! And this is Ren." He slightly raised the small dog Allmate and smiled. "He is a Japanese Spitz type Allmate." With that, Aoba bowed slightly, as did Ren.

As soon as he was done, hands shot up for questions. Mr. Haga pointed to a girl in the front row with long, blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing.

"Why haven't you been in school in so long?"

Aoba nodded and answered, "Well, uh, me and my twin brother were involved in an accident just after we started middle school, so I was in the hospital until I was almost sixteen. After that, my grandma home-schooled me, thinking that I wasn't ready to come back to school yet."

"So why did you decide to come now?" asked another girl with a high, brown ponytail.

"My grandma got a job here in one of the research labs and she wanted to take my brother and I with her, and I decided to try my hand at school again, even though I was much older than everyone else."

Suddenly, a boy with long, black hair pulled to the side and a large scar over his nose spoke up and asked, "Why isn't your brother here, too?"

Aoba paused for a moment. The subject of Sei was very...delicate. His twin brother had been of fragile health ever since the accident, and Aoba was very protective. "He, uh...gets sick easily, and doesn't like being around a lot of people, so...he thought it was best to stay home."

"Alright, Aoba," Mr. Haga said, "I'm sure you can get to know everyone over the next few days, but I would like to get you settled in."

Aoba nodded as Mr. Haga pointed to an empty seat in the classroom, directly next to the boy with the scar across his nose. He was lounging back in his seat while his small sparrow Allmate sat on his shoulder, fluffing his feathers.

"I will begin homeroom now," Mr. Haga added on, giving Aoba time to look through the folder that Ms. Yoshie had given him.

It was a dark blue folder, almost the color of Ren. There were numerous papers inside, mostly schedules and the like, along with Ms. Yoshie's and the Headmaster's information. There was also a small student handbook tucked in. His locker number and combination were there as well.

"I think I know you."

The voice came in a whisper, so low and quiet that Aoba almost didn't hear it. He looked around him only to have his eyes settle on the boy with the scar.

"Pardon me?" Aoba asked, setting his bag on the ground so Ren could curl up in it.

"You seem really familiar to me. Mostly your hair," the scarred boy repeated.

"My hair?" It seemed a little strange to Aoba that it was his hair, the one thing he tried not to think about.

"The color, and the style you wear it in...seems familiar to me."

Aoba gave the boy a weird look. "Um, not to seem...rude, but what's your name?"

"Koujaku."

As soon as the name was spoken, it was like a switch flipped and everything came rushing back. Memories from Aoba's forgotten childhood came back in a violent wave. In this wave, came the normal pain of an oncoming headache. The throbbing came as quickly as his raising heartbeat.

"Aoba, are you in need of your medication?" Ren whispered, standing on his hind legs to be able to reach Aoba's lap. In response to this question, Aoba nodded quickly. It didn't take long for Ren to dig into the bag that he was standing on and withdraw a green bottle of pills in his teeth. Aoba took them from his Allmate and struggled for a moment with the top.

He could tell that a lot of people in the classroom were watching him. It wasn't normal for a new student to pull out a random bottle of pills and down two of them. He knew it was weird. Hopefully, Granny had let the school know about it.

Shaking out two of the pills, Aoba dug around in his bag for his bottle of water, the throbbing growing into a full blown pounding, like a sledgehammer. As son as he found it, he gulped down the water and the pills at once.

"Aoba, are you all right?" Aoba heard Mr. Haga say, as he also heard his footsteps come towards him.

The pounding was going to be there for a while, but Aoba nodded, knowing that the medicine would kick in soon. "Yeah, I should be."

"Why did you need those?" the same girl with the ponytail asked.

Aoba glanced up and saw the entire classroom looking at him. He could feel a blush creeping into his cheek, but he swallowed and answered, "Uh, after my accident, I started getting really bad headaches, and I suddenly felt one starting. My grandma prescribes me pain relievers to help with them."

It seemed like the entire classroom gave one unanimous nod, making them seem a little bit like robots. However, it didn't take long for everyone to turn their attention back to Mr. Haga, who had walked back up to the front of the room when he had seen that Aoba was okay. The main class started, and seeing as how Aoba didn't have any books or anything to help with the class, he decided to stare off into space. Everything the teacher was going over was stuff he already knew.

After a few minutes passed, though, a piece of notebook paper that was folded in half floated down onto Aoba's desk. He glanced around, but no one was looking at him. When he unfolded the paper, the writing was sloppy, and it was impossible to tell who wrote it.

_I remember you now.  We grew up together._

Aoba blinked.  It was true.  The moment he heard Koujaku's name, he knew.  Those memories has been lost to Aoba until just then.  Aoba had forgotten a lot of things after the accident, and how the two of them met was one of them.

Sei hadn't been with Aoba back then since they had been put into different foster homes until they were ten.

Aoba had always been mistaken for a girl and then picked on because of it since his hair was long.  He had his reasons for not wanting to cut it, but whenever he told someone, they would never believe him.  Instead, they pulled don his hair, making fun of him.  Koujaku had been the one to stop the teasing.

A few of the older boys in his elementary school had cornered Aoba during recess.  They were pulling his hair and calling him a girl.  They continued to tease and continued to pull even though they knew that it hurt.  Aoba tried to get away, and had almost managed to slip underneath one of the older boys.  However, they managed to stop him, throwing him against the wall and slapping him.

One of the boys was about to do so once again, but his hand was grabbed.  When Aoba looked up, he had seen Koujaku.  He didn't have the scar back then, and his hair was a lot shorter.  Koujaku had told the boys that picking on a little girl wasn't very nice, that girls were supposed to be cherished and protected.  The boys then backed off.  Koujaku had mistaken Aoba for a girl, and Aoba had told him that he was really a boy.  Koujaku was surprised at first, but didn't act any different towards Aoba, which made him happy.  From then on, the two were always together, until Koujaku had moved to live with his father.

Aoba was remembering all this when he was brought back to the present by another piece of paper fluttering down onto the desk.

_Are you okay?_

Aoba looked over at Koujaku to see a worried expression on his face.  Aoba nodded and then looked back down at the paper.  He dug in his bag again, but this time for a pencil.  He couldn't find one, but Ren dropped a pen into his lap.  Aoba smiled at the dog and then wrote out a reply.

_Yes.  I was remembering how we met._

He folded the paper and slipped it back to Koujaku, who began writing right away.  And so began their conversation.

_You still remember that?_

_Of course, you saved me more times than I can count._

_Its crazy how we met again.  I never though we would._

_How long have you been living here._

_This is where my dad lives, so for a long time._

Just as Aoba was about to slip the note back to Koujaku again, Mr. Haga turned around and saw them.

"Aoba, care to show the class what you are talking about?"

Aoba blinked and his eyes widened.  He didn't know what to do.  He felt like he was in a very bag spotlight.  He remained silent, unable to say a word.  He glanced over at Koujaku for help, who smiled.  He turned his smile to Mr. Haga.

"Sorry, it was my fault.  We knew each other and haven't seen each other for a long time, so I wanted to catch up."

Mr. Haga nodded and replied, "Well, catch up on your own time.  We are in the middle of a lesson."

"All right, sir.  We'll pay attention now."

Mr. Haga then began teaching again and Aoba let out the breath he had been holding.  He didn't want to get in trouble on his first day.  His grandmother would not like that.

Looking around the room, Aoba noticed that there was a lot of people in the classroom.  It was a large class.  However, his eyes soon rested on an empty seat next to the wall, in the second row.  It hadn't been empty when he had entered the class.  There was definitely someone there.  For some reason, though, Aoba couldn't seem to remember what that person looked like.


	3. His Name Is Noiz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, here comes Noiz in all his dickish glory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me some issues since I'm not very accustomed to writing the more...intense scenes, but I'm learning as I go so go easy on me haha I'll have the next chapter out within the next few days, so be patient.

Later in the day, lunch rolled around. Aoba leaned back in his chair, stretching. It had been a while since he had sat down for so long. Rehab never let him stay sitting for too long, and neither did his grandma.

As he was leaning back, someone cast a shadow over him. Looking up, he saw Koujaku standing above him.

“Hey,” Koujaku said, throwing him a smile.

Aoba sat up and turned around. “Hi.”

“Sorry for almost getting you in trouble earlier. I just wanted to make sure you remembered me, too.”

Aoba smiled. Same old Koujaku. “You're fine.”

“Wanna sit with me for lunch?”

Blinking, Aoba wasn't sure what to say. “Uh...” He looked down at Ren, who had gone into sleep mode. Looking past the lump of fur, he saw the lunch Granny had made for him sitting in his bag. “I don't mind...But I brought a lunch.”

Koujaku smiled softly. “That's all right. We can stay here and eat. We're allowed to do that.”

Aoba nodded. He felt so out of the loop. That was to be expected, though. He didn't understand school, the class changes, or what he was allowed and not allowed to do. He kept doing things that he wasn't supposed to and had gotten in trouble a couple of times. He was so pathetic.

As Aoba was wallowing in self-pity, Koujaku had sat back down.

“What're you beating yourself up over, Aoba?” Koujaku asked, almost reading Aoba's mind.

Aoba looked up. Koujaku was giving him a sad look.

_Great, now he's gonna pity me. I really am pathetic._

“You're not pathetic, Aoba.”

Aoba looked down and saw Ren standing on his hind legs once again, trying to reassure him. It surprised Aoba that Ren had suddenly woken up, but it was probably those “waves” that Ren went on about sometimes. He smiled and picked up the fluffy pup, putting their foreheads together as if to say thanks.

Just as they were parting, the classroom door opened. The sound drew Aoba's eyes to it. A blonde-haired boy walked in. He had headphones around his neck and looked like he was in a hurry. He dropped something off on Mr. Haga's desk and then made a half-turn, his eyes landing on Aoba.

Aoba stiffened. The blonde was glaring at him. The numerous piercings dotting the boy's face only made the glare that much more menacing. The exchange lasted less than ten seconds and then the boy turned and hurried out of the room, leaving Aoba to blink in confusion.

“Who the hell was that?” Aoba said, his eyebrows drawing together.

“Who?”

Aoba looked at Koujaku, who hadn't seen the exchange. “The guy who just walked in here. He had a lot of piercings.”

At the mention of the piercings, Koujaku's expression turned sour, darkening the normally light atmosphere. “You must mean Noiz. He's a dick. He thinks himself a computer genius, so he rarely shows up for class, and when he does show up, he is always on his computer. Never pays attention.”

Aoba looked over at the empty desk that he had noticed earlier in the morning. It must be _his_ seat.

“Noiz, huh?” Aoba muttered. What a weird name.

* * *

 

The rest of the day passed in the same fashion as it had the first half of the day. Aoba continued to screw things up, but he was the only one who took it as a bad thing. It was now just before his last class, and he had to go to the bathroom. He had been holding it since lunch. He was not used to not being able to go whenever he wanted. Just another thing he had to get used to.

On his way back from the bathroom, something caught his eye. He saw a shock of blonde hair out of his peripheral vision and slowed his pace. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was _him_. And for once, that suspicion was proven correct.

Noiz was standing in the hallway, talking to another student. They seemed to be deep into a conversation. Aoba hit behind the row of lockers. He knew he shouldn't spy. But something about what he saw didn't seem right to him.

“You've got the cash?” Aoba heard Noiz say. Since he was so far away, it was a little hard to hear.

“Yeah, two hundred, like you asked.” The other student took his wallet out of his pocket, and Aoba saw Noiz turned a flash-drive over in his hand.

“How about we bump it up to three?” Noiz suddenly said, crossing his arms. His back was to Aoba, but he could still see the hidden strength that Noiz held in those arms, and he could practically hear the sneer in Noiz's voice.

“Three!? Why!?”

“This is some high-quality shit here. You've got administrator passwords _and_ answers to three different midterms. That doesn't come cheap.”

_Passwords and test answers? Oh, that can't be good._

Aoba didn't know what was going on, but there was no way he could let something like this happen. It just went against everything he believed. Aoba mustered up what courage he had left and started walking towards the two.

“You shouldn't be doing that, you know,” Aoba said, a little louder than he meant to. The other student looked at him, brown eyes widening to a point where he looked like the cliched “deer in the headlights”. It didn't take long for the kid to shove his wallet back in his pocket and book it back down the hall.

Noiz turned towards Aoba as he stopped a few feet in front of him. The glare had returned, and now that he was closer, he could see that Noiz's eyes were an odd shade of lime-green. They seemed to pierce through Aoba, anchoring him to the spot.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” Noiz growled, menacingly.

Aoba flinched at the tone and his blue-bangs fell in his eyes. Trying to keep his hand from shaking, he brushed them to the side and answered, “You could get in some deep shit for selling stuff like that here.”

“No shit.”

Aoba blinked. “Well, whatever.” He was about to turn around and walk away when Noiz grabbed onto the front of his uniform, the tie partially coming undone, and slamming him against the lockers that were next to them.

“Don't even think about it. You just cost me three hundred. You prepared to pay?” Aoba said nothing, the lime-green orbs burning into his own amber colored ones. “If you can't pay me, then I'll have to get my payment some other way.” Aoba still said nothing, his courage running out. He knew that he was about to start shaking, but before he or Noiz could do anything, they began to hear voices around the corner. “Fuck...” Noiz muttered.

In what seemed like not even five seconds, Noiz began to pull Aoba down the hall, past some lockers, and threw him straight into a small closet set right in the middle of the hallway. No sooner than he was thrown in that Noiz followed suit and shut the door behind him.

_What the hell is he doing?_

The closet was small, almost too small. The two were pressed close together, chest against chest. Being so close, Aoba noticed that Noiz's eyes weren't the only thing lime. He even smelled slightly of lime, though it was mixed with a male scent. Aoba could faintly hear voices on the other side of the door, but he barely noticed them.

Noiz shifted, his leg sliding in between Aoba's. Aoba was practically tucked underneath Noiz. His leg rubbed against Aoba's groin. A sound of embarrassment was pulled from Aoba's mouth and he felt his cheeks grow hot. The blonde looked down at Aoba. Even though it was kind of dark in the closet, he could still see the deep red that tinged Aoba's cheeks.

“What's with that look on your face?” Noiz whispered, smirking. He rubbed his knee against Aoba's groin again and got close to Aoba's ear. “What're you getting all flustered for?” Aoba could feel his breath on his ear, sending an odd shiver through him.

Aoba pushed against Noiz's chest. “Get the hell--”

His loud protest was cut short when Noiz suddenly grabbed his chin, forcing it upwards. Noiz drew closer and laid a soft kiss on Aoba's lips. It was a light brush of a kiss, but it caused all the gears and thoughts in Aoba's mind to come to a screeching halt. His bangs fell over his eyes again as a moment passed and Noiz kissed him again.

Aoba drew back suddenly, but found he had no where to go. He was up against a wall and the only way out was through the door...behind Noiz. Noiz was still holding onto Aoba's chin, the next kiss a little more aggressive.

In yet another failed attempt at a protest, Aoba grabbed onto the front of Noiz's shirt, but Noiz was too strong. He refused to relinquish Aoba's lips. He looped his other arm around Aoba's waist, his fingers brushing the exposed skin just above Aoba's belt. Aoba let out a gasp.

Noiz took the pause in stride and used the opportunity to slide his tongue into Aoba's mouth. The sensation caught him off guard and a shiver went down his spine. Noiz pulled him closer, slightly bending him back. He licked the roof of Aoba's mouth, he felt some hard mixed with the softness of Noiz's tongue.

_Is that...a tongue piercing?_

Aoba paused again in his effort to escape, confused but also a little interested by the feeling of the ball clicking against his teeth as Noiz twirled their tongues together. It sent a numb feeling all the way down to his toes. The hand that was holding Aoba's chin slid past his ear and into his hair. Normally, just the slightest touch would send pain through the strands of blue hair, but when Noiz did it, there was no pain; just a soft touch.

Aoba relaxed, against his better judgment, but the kiss suddenly ended. Noiz drew back and turned his head towards the door, listening. Aoba was left panting slightly, the heat from his cheeks slowly fading.

The teachers had passed on, and the hall outside was quiet. Noiz grabbed onto Aoba's upper arm and opened the door to the closet. Catching Aoba off guard once again, Noiz threw him out of the closet, to which Aoba lost his footing. He fell to the floor and let out a surprised, “Oof!”

_What the hell!?_

Wiping his mouth and rising to his knees, he looked up at Noiz in anger.

Noiz sneered, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked down his nose at Aoba. “Tch, that was your punishment for chasing off my customer. Remember, you owe me.” Then without another word, Noiz turned on his heel and disappeared down the hallway.

Aoba blinked as he left, those lime-green eyes leaving what felt like a brand on Aoba's retinas.

“What the fucking hell was that!?”

 


	4. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a fairly uneventful chapter. There are a few more characters introduced and you learn more about the accident and Aoba's memory loss.

Rushing back to the classroom, Aoba was still fuming about the entire event with Noiz.  He couldn't believe that someone he had never met before would suddenly do something like that.  That kiss was one thing, but the rest of it?  

_He touched my hair!_

Aoba stopped suddenly, remembering.  Noiz had touched his hair...and it didn't hurt.  Sure, he felt it.  That was normal, but the fact that there had been no pain whatsoever?  That had only ever happened with Sei and Granny.  Of all people, why had it been Noiz?

He shook his head.  That didn't matter.  He had to get back to class.

Before he got there, however, the bell rang once more.

_Oh, no...Koujaku had said that this bell would be the end of our last class..._

Had Aoba really been gone an entire class?  It didn't seem possible...It didn't seem like he had been in that closet for more than a couple minutes, but he wasn't sure.  Aoba shook his head again and instead ran back to his classroom.  When he pulled open the door, the other students were all gathering their things to go home.

"Aoba!"

Aoba looked over to see a worried Ren sitting on his desk.  The Allmate swished his pom-pom like tail as Aoba walked over to him.

"Where were you!?"

"I was in the bathroom," Aoba answered, picking Ren up.  He saw Koujaku next to him with a suspicious look on his face.  Aoba knew that there was no way Ren nor Koujaku would believe him if he left it at that.  "I got lost on my way back and ended up wandering around for a while."

Both Ren and Koujaku gave Aoba worried looks, but they seemed to believe him.  He hated lying to both of them, but he felt like he didn't have a choice...he didn't want to worry them.

Koujaku sighed and put a hand on Aoba's shoulder.  "Hey, how about we walk home together?  You can show me where you live."

Aoba was happy at the suggestion.  He didn't like going anywhere alone.  He always had Ren with him, but having a friend would be nice.  He hadn't had a friend since before the accident.  Aoba put Ren down and picked up his bag.

They made their way through the crowded halls as everyone was gathering their things from their lockers.  Just as they walked out of the school building, something ran into Aoba.

"Oof!"  The sound was pushed from Aoba's lungs, almost knocking him to the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!  Are you okay!?  I didn't mean to run into you!"

Aoba straightened to see the worried face of a boy with white hair.  His eyes were closed and he was holding his hands together in front of his face.  It was like he was asking for forgiveness.  Over his uniform, he wore a scarf that was in between yellow and green and had an umbrella hanging from the crook of his elbow.  Aoba smiled at the earnest way the boy acted.

"I'm alright," Aoba assured the boy.  "And you don't need to apologize.  Its crowded.  It could have happened to anyone."

As soon as Aoba spoke, the boy's eyes flew open, revealing abnormal pink irises.  A large grin spread across the boy's face as he suddenly hugged Aoba.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!"

Aoba was shocked, but the boy seemed so happy that he couldn't just push him away.  He patted him on the back and laughed a little.  "I don't know why you're thanking me, but you're welcome."

"Clear, back off a little.  You don't need to be so aggressive."

Aoba turned his head to look at Koujaku, who had crossed his arms.  He had a small smile on his face despite his warning tone.

"Oh, right!" The boy named Clear let go suddenly and smiled at Aoba.  He held out a hand towards Aoba.  "I'm Clear!"

Aoba took his hand.  "Aoba Seragaki.  Its nice to meet you."

"Likewise!"  He looked over at Koujaku and seemed to remember something.  "Oh, hey!  Are you going to the Twins' party next Saturday?"

Aoba blinked and listened to the conversation as Clear and Koujaku talked about the party.  Apparently, there was a party being held by someone called the Twins, and it was going to be the biggest party of the year.  The entire senior class was invited.  And Clear and Koujaku were both going.

Koujaku turned to Aoba, who was glancing around him and chewing on his thumb nail.  Aoba looked really out of the loop, but that was to be expected since it was his first day.  "Hey," Koujaku said, elbowing Aoba in the ribs lightly.  "Do you wanna go with us?"

Aoba looked at the both of them.  "Are you sure?  I mean they don't know me...won't they get mad if a random person shows up at their party?"

Koujaku shook his head, the long bangs that covered his right eye shifting.  Aoba though that he saw a tattoo underneath the dark strands.  "They always want a lot of people there so they don't really care who shows up.  They just like inviting all the seniors."

Aoba nodded slowly.  He would have to talk it over with Granny, but he was sure she would be okay with it as long as Ren was with him.  "I'll try and convince my grandma.  She's a little overprotective."

Koujaku and Clear nodded and smiled.

"Speaking of Granny," Ren said, hopping up on his hind legs and extending his front legs, signaling that he wanted Aoba to pick him up.  "Shouldn't we be getting home?  She informed you this morning that she wanted you to arrive home right after school had finished.  She sent you a message today saying that she wouldn't be able to pick you up because Sei is having a bad day."

Aoba nodded.  Ren was right.  He hadn't been away from his twin for this long before, so it was obvious that Sei would be having some problems.

"Do you mind if I stop by for a while?  My shift for work doesn't start for a few hours and I haven't seen your grandmother since before I moved.  It would be great to see her again."  Aoba nodded at Koujaku, who looked at Clear.  The boy's smile had slipped a bit.

Aoba noticed as well and asked, "Do you want to come with us, Clear?"  The white haired boy perked up and nodded quickly.  Aoba laughed quietly.  He may be a senior, but this kid seemed like he was still in grade-school.  That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though.  It was kind of cute.

The group of three made their way down at least four streets, turning at odd places.  Aoba thought it seemed odd considering that they hadn't gone this way to get to the school, but Ren was the one leading them.  He was probably just trying to find the easiest way home.

This was confirmed when they walked down a quiet street instead of the main one, and just seconds later they heard a loud uproar.

Koujaku clicked his tongue and shot an annoyed look in the direction of the noise.  "Another one, huh?"

"It seems like it," Clear agreed, nodded and opening his umbrella.  There was no clouds, but it seemed to calm Clear.

"What are you two talking about?" Aoba inquired, growing confused at the looks they kept throwing the growing clamor.

"Rhyme..."

Aoba blinked.  "You mean that realistic simulation that uses Allmates?"

"Yeah," Koujaku muttered.  "It's been pretty popular lately...its been causing problems with the Groups..."

There it was again...the Groups.  Ms. Yoshie said something about them, too.

"I don't think Aoba knows about them yet," Clear said, doing a little spin.  He seemed to be having fun.  "Think we should tell him?"

Koujaku nodded and looked at Aoba.  "In our school, there are...how do I put it...?  Clear, you're better at explaining it."

Clear chuckled and linked his arm through Aoba's.  

"The Groups are exactly that.  They are groups of students who band together and participate in matches either during school or after school, depending on what is going on that day.  Its basically a hierarchical system to decide which group is the leader.  It was started by the Headmaster as a way to get the students to study more, by bribing the winning group with certain privileges or prizes, but it turned into a turf war instead."

"I'm leader of a Group called Benishigure, Mizuki is the leader of Dry Juice, and even that asshole Noiz is the leader of one.  His is called Ruff Rabbit," Koujaku explained.

Aoba nodded, and then grimaced at the mention of Noiz.  He tried to hide it before the others saw it.  He still didn't want them to know what had happened.  

"Just because there's a lot of students in these groups doesn't mean you have to be in one," Koujaku said, mistaking Aoba's grimace as one directed at the Groups.  

"Yeah!  I'm not in one, either!" Clear said, resting his head on Aoba's shoulder.  The white haired boy seemed incredibly attached to Aoba for some reason.

Aoba nodded.  Thankfully, neither of them noticed exactly why Aoba had made that face.  The next few minutes passed in relative silence once they got past the group of people.  It wasn't long before the house Aoba shared with his twin and his grandmother came into view.  It wasn't a bit house, with only two bedrooms and one bathroom.  Sei slept in the day room that was next the kitchen since it was easier for him to get things.  Aoba and Granny took the two bedrooms.

They stepped into the house and were greeted by a sweet smell of something being fried.

"I'm home!" Aoba called, taking his shoes off at the door.  The other two did the same.

"We're in the kitchen!" Aoba heard.  He smiled.  Of course, they were.  That was Granny's favorite place.

He set his bag by the kitchen door and walked in.  Sei was sitting at the table in his wheelchair, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he read a book.

"Aoba!" Sei said, smiling as soon as he saw his twin.  "I missed you."

Aoba smiled too and gave his brother a hug, lightly squeezing as Sei hugged him back.  "Missed you, too.  I brought some friends over."

Both Sei and Granny turned to look at the doorway to the kitchen, where Clear and Koujaku stood. "You made friends already?" Granny asked, smiling.  "Good."

"Tae-san, don't tell me that you don't recognize me," Koujaku said, beaming at Aoba's grandmother.

Granny's expression didn't change, but her eyes lit up, showing that she did indeed recognize him.  "It's nice to see you again, Koujaku.  I didn't think that I would see you here."

Koujaku laughed.  "You haven't changed."

Aoba looked up to see Clear peeking around the door frame.  "Come on, Clear.  Its okay."   Cautiously, Clear walked into the room, glancing around nervously.  He sat down at the table and looked at Aoba for help.

"Sei, Granny, this is Clear."

Both of them smiled and waved at Clear.  As soon as he did, Clear began to sit up a little straighter, a little less afraid.

"So how was your first day?" Sei asked his twin, closing his book.  Aoba rested his head on Sei's shoulder and sighed.

"Tiring.  I kept doing things wrong...and then I kept getting lost."

Sei ran a hand through his brother's hair, being careful to not snag on any tangles.  He knew the sensitivity in the blue strands because he was the same.  Although his hair was much darker than Aoba's, there were nerve endings in his hair as well.  "I'm sure you did fine, _nee-chan_.  I wish I could have gone with you."

Aoba shook his head.  "You don't have to wish that Sei.  All that matters now is you getting better."

Sei laughed.  "I know, I know."  He looked over at Koujaku and Clear who seemed to be a bit uncomfortable.  "You guys can be in the conversation, too.  You came over, so have some fun."

Aoba smiled at his friends and nodded.

"Well, what should we talk about?" Koujaku asked, leaning back in his chair.

Suddenly, Clear raised his hand.  "I have a question."

Aoba cuddled against his brother and Sei held out a hand for Clear to continue.

"I don't wanna sound rude, but I was wondering about it.  Why are you in a wheelchair?"

Granny stopped whatever she was doing as Aoba sat up and Sei looked down at the table.

"Well, when Aoba and I were entering middle school, we were on a road trip to see Granny with our parents.  There was a drunk driver on the road and we were involved in a head-on collision.  Our parents died instantly, and Aoba and I were very badly injured.  The both of us were in a coma for three years.  Granny was the one watching over us, making sure we got all the treatments we needed.  Then suddenly, one day we woke up.  The doctors didn't know what made us wake up.  We started rehab and such, and Aoba took to it very well.  I, on the other hand, didn't.  I was always very fragile, and because of the accident, I was paralyzed from the knees down."

"Sorry to interrupt, but why only the knees?" Koujaku asked.  "That isn't very common, is it?"

Granny spoke up and said, "Its very rare.  No one could explain why it was from the knees down.  He had no nerve or tissue damage.  There was no definite reason.  But after the accident and the coma, Sei started having seizures and the like.  He gets them at least once a day, so it keeps him from going out of the house most days."  Granny set down a plate of donuts and sat down in the one remaining chair.  "Aoba was very lucky.  He recovered quite quickly from the coma, and walked away from it with only chronic migraines.  They are common with coma patients."

Every sat in silence, not knowing how to proceed. 

"Granny, you know that that's not the only thing that I walked away with," Aoba whispered.  This was a topic that was very hard for him to talk about, but he didn't like to leave an explanation half finished.  He looked up at Koujaku and Clear and said, "I also lost my memory.  I can't remember anything before the accident."

"But you remembered me?" Koujaku said, a confused look crossing his face.  

_That's true..._

"You did!?" Sei and Granny said, shock making their voices high.  Aoba flinched at the sound, blinking at their intensity.

"Yeah...I did..."

"What happened?" 

"Well, all he did was say his name and the first time we met just...came flooding back to me...it happened so fast that it gave me a headache."

Clear and Koujaku looked between the three in confusion.

"Why is it so surprising?" Clear asked, his pink eyes darkening with worry.  

Sei glanced at Clear and then looked back at Aoba again, holding his twin's hand.  "He's never remembered anything before.  This is the first memory to come back to him."

"Really?" Koujaku whispered, feeling a little proud that he was the first thing for Aoba to remember.  Aoba had been such a big part of his life back then.  He would gladly have put his life on the line to protect Aoba.  Even after he moved away, Aoba was always on Koujaku's mind.  He felt so guilty for leaving Aoba.  But one thing was still bothering him.  He reached out a hand to Aoba to catch his attention.  "When we were kids, Sei wasn't with you...you never talked about him and all those times I went over to your house, I never saw him."

Aoba opened his mouth to reply, but found that he truly didn't know.  He thought that Sei had been there when they were kids, but maybe he wasn't.  Sei's memory of their childhood was a little hazy as well.

"Sei used to live with me since he was sick a lot when he was a child," Granny interjected.  She flicked a glance at the plate she had set down, noticing that not one was missing.  The boys must have been so engrossed in the conversation that they had forgotten to eat.  "Aoba lived with their parents and I lived a few towns over.  I used to work at one of the best research facilities in the country, so I was able to take care of him easily.  A year after you left, Koujaku, we thought that Sei was healthy enough to live with Aoba and their parents, so he went back with them."

Koujaku nodded.  It made sense.  But the fact that Aoba had never mentioned him seemed a little off.  However, he didn't want to push it.  As he was mulling it over, everyone else had started to eat the donuts Granny had made, considering that the conversation had hit a standstill.  

"Koujaku, your shift starts in an hour.  We better get a move on."

Everyone looked over to see a small sparrow hop out of the jacket of Koujaku's uniform.  It was his Allmate, Beni.

"Is it really that late already?" Koujaku asked.  When the sparrow nodded, Koujaku sighed.  He would have to leave the rest of the conversation for some other time.

"Where do you work, Koujaku?" Sei suddenly asked.

Koujaku blinked and looked across the table.  Aoba now had his head lying on his arms while Sei was playing with his hair.  It seemed like the blue-haired boy was about to fall asleep.

"Uh, at the Tower downtown."

"Ah, the fast food joint that everyone is raving about.  Is it good?"

Koujaku looked at Granny next.  

_What's the sudden interest about?_

"I guess so.  I don't normally eat there, but all my classmates like it.  Why?"

Granny looked over at her grandsons and smiled when she heard a small snore emanating from Aoba.  The boy was worn out.  Ren was in his lap, sleeping as well.  "I want Aoba to have at least one year as a normal teenager.  I know that he is turning twenty-one in a few months, but he has the emotional maturity of a seventeen year old.  I want him to experience a normal high school life, at least for one year.  So I was thinking that maybe getting him a part-time job would help with that."  She watched as Sei leaned down to sit very much like Aoba was, keeping his hand on the other's head.  "He spends so much time looking after Sei that I was so surprised when he told me that he wanted to go to school.  I was nervous about it, but I guess it'll be good for him.  I want him to have some friends and make some new memories to fill in the ones he had forgotten."  Her smile faded as she looked back up at Koujaku again.  "Basically, I was wondering if you could talk to your manager for me and see if Aoba can help out on the weekends or something."

Koujaku listened as Granny explained.  It was plain to see that she loved her grandsons.  She knew that Sei wouldn't be able to do much of anything, but at least Aoba could.  

In the end, he nodded and smiled at the elder woman.  "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

Koujaku put a hand on Clear's shoulder, who jumped.  Clear had been watching a video on his Coil, and from what Koujaku could see, it had really distracted him.  "Let's go."

Clear nodded and they both stood up, thanked Granny for the food, and promised to come visit again soon.

When the two boys had left, Granny looked over at the two that were sleeping at the table.  They both looked so peaceful that she didn't have the heart to move them.

_I'll let them sleep.  Aoba shouldn't have any homework on his first day, and Sei missed him terribly._

She smiled.  Something was definitely starting to change.  Whether it was changing for the better or for the worse, she couldn't tell.  But things would never be the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how did you like Clear? He is basically the same as in the game, but I put a more positive twist on him. Also, I hope Sei seemed alright to you all. I don't know much about Sei's personality, so I was pretty much just guessing. I tried to make this chapter a little more serious. Don't worry, the next chapter will hopefully be less heavy. I'll be writing about that party that was mentioned. Guess who the Twins are!? Its easy xD


	5. Loud Noise and Bright Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba attends his first ever high school party, allied with Clear and Koujaku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter sooooo did not go where I thought it was going to. I planned on more happening, but nope. Totally different direction. I feel like I failed xD

For the next few days, Aoba grew more accustomed to school life.  He finally managed to get down the general path he had to take to get to his locker, his classroom, and the bathroom.  He began to have lunch with Clear, Koujaku, and Mizuki, even though Mizuki was in a separate class than the others.  On the other hand, Aoba did not see Noiz at all.  The blonde boy continued to not show up for class.  Not that it bothered Aoba at all.  He actually preferred to not see him.

However, Noiz's warning still remained in the front of his mind.  It was now the day before the big party.  Clear and Koujaku had followed Aoba home again.

_What does he want me to pay?  I can't give him three hundred dollars...I don't have that kind of money.  And even if I did, I wouldn't give it to him._

Aoba shook his head, warranting a strange look from his friends.  

"Is something wrong?" Clear asked from where he was sitting on the floor.  He had a pad of paper in front of him and seemed to be drawing a jellyfish.

"No, just a little nervous," Aoba admitted.  It wasn't technically a lie.  He  _was_ nervous about the party.  "I've never been to a party before."

Koujaku plopped himself onto the bed next to Aoba and gave him a light pat on the head.  Aoba tried not to flinch.  It didn't hurt, it was just uncomfortable.  "You'll be fine as long as you stick with us."

Clear nodded quickly.  "Yeah, and make sure you never get stuck in a room alone with the Twins.  You're their type."

Aoba blinked.  "Their type?"  He heard his voice crack a little.  Swallowing, Aoba asked, "What exactly do you mean, Clear?"

But the white haired boy had gone back to his drawing.  Aoba turned to Koujaku next and asked the same question.

Koujaku sighed.

_Clear did that on purpose..._

"The Twins are a little...odd," Koujaku said, but made a face.  "No, that's not the right word.  They like to fool around a lot.  They like to tease new students and they've also earned the nickname the  _Aphrodite Twins._  They are quite..."  Trying to find the right word, Koujaku blushed darkly.  Clear looked up at the sudden silence and rolled his eyes.

"They like sex."

"Clear!" Koujaku said, looking away trying to hide his red face.  

"What?  It's true!"

"Yeah, but you didn't have to say it like that..."

The scarred boy and the white haired boy looked over at Aoba, who was looking down at Ren in his lap as his face slowly got more and more red.  He didn't exactly expect Clear to be so open about something like that.  Sure, Aoba had thought about sex before.  He was a guy, for heaven's sake.  He got urges, too.  But he usually managed to handle them by himself.  He'd never actually...done it before.  He always thought that if he was going to, it would have to be with someone he loved.  

"But...why would they go after me?" Aoba asked quietly.  "I'm a guy."

"Doesn't matter," Clear said, shrugging.  "They go after whoever they find attractive, guy or girl.  And they have a thing for guys like you.  No offense, but you're kinda feminine."

Aoba nodded.  He already knew that.  People thought he was a girl all the time.  

Koujaku waved his arms in front of him.  "You know what?  It doesn't matter.  As long as you're with us, you'll be fine.  The party starts at eight tomorrow night.  You wanna meet us there, or do you want us to come get you?"

Aoba thought for a moment.  He still didn't know the town very well, even though he had been living here for almost four years.  He didn't get out much.  "You should probably come get me.  I'll probably get lost if I go alone."

"Aoba, I'll be with you." 

Aoba looked down at the ball of fluff on his lap and saw Ren looking at him with a strange look in his eyes.  "I know, but you know me.  I get lost even when you're with me."

At that, the three boys started laughing.  Aoba's sense of direction was horrible.  They talked for a little while longer, and then Koujaku had to leave for work.  As usual, Clear went with him.  

* * *

The next day, Aoba stood in front of his closet.  He had just finished his shower and was trying to figure out what he should wear.  The more he looked, however, the more he realized that almost all of his clothes were the same.

Aoba groaned and sat on the floor.

_Why am I getting all bent outta shape about this?  Its not like I'm trying to impress anyone!  I'm not gonna know anyone there!_

Shaking his head, Aoba quickly grabbed a regular pair of jeans and a long sleeved, navy blue shirt.  It would have to do.  He searched through his room for his belt.  It was his favorite.  It was the same color as his hair and had studs on it.  As he was looking, he heard a yell from downstairs.

"Aoba!  Koujaku and Clear are here!"

"Alright, I'll be down in a second!" Aoba yelled back.  Frantically, he swiped his hand under his bed, grabbing hold of the belt and rushing to put it on.  Suddenly, Aoba stopped.  Should he bring a jacket?  Was it cold out?  "Ren, what's the temperature?"  The Allmate looked up from his spot on Aoba's pillow.

"It is chilly.  You would need a jacket if you don't want to get sick."  

Aoba nodded and grabbed his puffy blue and white jacket out of the closet.  It was the only one he had.  As an afterthought, Aoba shoved his medication in his pocket and his headphones around his neck.

"Alright, I think I'm ready..."

"Are you sure, Aoba?" Ren asked, jumping down from the bed and trotting over to stand next to him.  Aoba nodded and the two rushed down the stairs.

He found Koujaku and Clear in the kitchen talking with Sei and Granny.  Koujaku was wearing a red kimono on top of a pair of black jeans.  His hair was the same as normal, his bangs still covering his eyes.  What surprised Aoba was the large sword that was hanging from his back.  Clear on the other hand, was wearing dark purple jeans with a heavy wool sweater over it.  He still had his umbrella.

"You ready?" Clear asked, looping his arm through Aoba's.  Aoba nodded but walked over to Sei.

"I'll be home around midnight," he said, sliding his arms around his twin.  The past few days had been bad for Sei.  There had been more seizures than normal, but it seemed like today was one of the better days. He hadn't had a seizure yet, but there was still a chance for one.  He hated having to leave his brother alone, but he had promised to go to the party.

"Don't worry about me, Aoba.  Have fun with your friends.  You don't have to be home that early.  Its a Saturday and you'll have Koujaku and Clear to look after you.  Just make sure to check in sometime, okay?"  Aoba nodded as he gave his brother another squeeze.

"I'll see you later."

Aoba smiled and walked out of the kitchen with the others, Ren trotting behind him.  

As they began walking down Aoba's street, he realized how hungry he was.  Aoba hadn't eaten dinner because he was too nervous.

Koujaku heard Aoba's stomach rumbling and asked, "You wanna stop somewhere to get something to eat?  There won't really be food at the party, so now would be your only chance."

Aoba nodded.  However, he didn't know where to go for food.  He always relied on Granny for that kind of thing.

"How about we stop at the Tower?" Clear asked, opening his umbrella.  He was looking up at the sky and for once, it seemed like it was going to rain.  "They're open this late right?"

Koujaku chuckled.  "Clear, its only eight.  Just because you go to bed super early most of the time doesn't mean the rest of the world does."  Clear shrugged but laughed as well.  "But yes, they are open.  You guys wanna go there."

The others agreed and they started to make their way downtown.  Aoba had never been to this side of town before.  Of course, he had been around the area.  He would always go with Granny to get groceries or he would make small errands for his neighbors.  However, never in all those times had he ventured downtown.  It was like a foreign country to him.  The fast food joint where Koujaku worked was not too far from the border between the residential district and the economical district, so it came into view rather quickly.  

"Hey, Koujaku?" Aoba muttered, suddenly remembered something he and Granny had talked about a few days before.

"Hmm?" Koujaku replied, rubbing his hands together.  It was started to get a little cold out.

"Did Granny say anything to you about her wanting me to get a part-time job?"

Koujaku glanced at Aoba.  The blue haired boy's bangs had fallen over his eyes as he looked down at the ground.  Ren was jumping every few steps to keep up with the boys.  Aoba noticed him struggling and picked him up.

"Yeah, it was last week.  She said that she wanted you to have at least one year as a normal teenager, so she wanted me to talk to my manager to see if you could help out anywhere.  I asked my manager, and she said that in a few weeks, one of our employees is transferring to another branch, so we could use some help.  It won't be for a while, though."

Aoba nodded, relieved.  He really didn't want to have to start working so soon after he started school.  In time, he would be okay with it.  But right now, with him just barely growing accustomed to school, suddenly jumping into a job wouldn't go so well.

When they reached the fast food joint, Koujaku held the door open for Clear and Aoba.  "Order whatever you want.  I'll use my discount."

The three walked through the door and Aoba was greeted by a variety of smells and sounds that he wasn't used to hearing.  He had always eaten home cooked meals, so going to a place like this was different.  He didn't know what to order, so Koujaku ordered a simple burger and fries to see if Aoba would like them.

"Koujaku, what are you doing here?  You don't work today, do you?"

They looked up to see a girl from their class standing next to their table.  Aoba recognized her as one of the girls to ask him a question on his first day.  She had long blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing.

"Nope, I don't," Koujaku said, smiling at her.  "I'm headed to a party with Aoba and Clear after we eat.  None of us has had dinner yet."

"Oh, you mean the Twins' party?" the girl asked, staring at Aoba.  He looked back at her.  

"Yeah.  You going?"

"I wanted to after my shift is done.  I don't get off for another couple of hours.  But maybe I'll see you guys there?"

Koujaku nodded and flashed her another smile.  However, she didn't see it since her eyes were glued to Aoba.

"You're the new kid, right?" she asked, smiling.  "I'm Leana."  She held out her hand, which Aoba promptly shook.  "I'm in the same class as you guys.  But anyway, yeah, I'll probably see you guys there.  I'm gonna be there with a couple of my friends, so maybe we can hang out."

"Uh, sure," Aoba said, looking down at his half-eaten food.  It was good, but Aoba was starting to feel a little out of place there.  Leana didn't notice, but left anyway since she had to get back to work.  The three finished their food and were off to the party.

* * *

 

"Yo!  Koujaku!"

The three looked up to see Mizuki jogging towards them.  He had a big grin on his face.  As Aoba looked closer, he saw a tear tattoo on Mizuki's left cheek.  He was sure that he hadn't had one at school.  The club where the party was held at was just in front of them, the loud bass of the music making the ground shake.

"Hey, you came, too?" Koujaku said, giving his friend a hug.

"'Course.  This is the biggest party of the year.  I wouldn't miss it."  His gaze shifted to Aoba, who was hanging back a bit.  "Hey, Aoba.  What're you being so shy about?"

Aoba blinked.  "I'm not being shy," he muttered, his cerulean bangs falling over his eyes.  He absently remembered that he needed to cut them soon.  "It's more like I'm nervous."

Mizuki laughed as he bent down to pet Ren, who was resting at Aoba's feet.  As he did, Sheama hopped down from her perch on Mizuki's shoulder and curled herself around Ren's neck in greeting.  Aoba noticed how Ren seemed completely at ease around the ermine.  With most other Allmates, Ren was just as nervous around them as Aoba was around people.

"You don't have to be nervous, dude.  We'll be with you the entire time.  We'll make sure you don't get kidnapped."  Mizuki laughed again as he threw an arm around Aoba's shoulders, making sure to avoid Aoba's hair.  He had picked up the fact that Aoba didn't like people touching his hair.  "You know what?  Let's get going."

The three others nodded.  As they drew closer to the club, the music got exponentially louder.  Aoba looked at the building in apprehension.  His headaches had never been triggered by loud noises or lights before, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen.  He slid his hand in his pocket to make sure his medication was still there.  

They made their way into the building and all at once, Aoba started to feel better about this.  For some reason, the music (though loud and had a bass that pounded through his chest) had a odd kind of soothing effect on him.  The group made their way through the throngs of people and searched for an empty table.  As Aoba looked around, he saw a lot of people he recognized from school, and a lot of them he didn't recognize at all.  But he guessed that was normal.  It obviously wasn't only going to be people from school.

They managed to find a table that was slightly away from everyone else.  Koujaku had pointed it out and said that it would be the ideal table for someone who had never been to a party before.

"I'll go get us some drinks," Clear said, setting his umbrella down.  As he walked away, Aoba noticed that there was a small plushie-like jellyfish following after Clear.  Aoba had never seen it before.

_That must be his Allmate.  I wonder why I've never seen it before..._

Koujaku followed Aoba's gaze and tapped his shoulder, leaning a little closer.  "Clear's Allmate had been stolen a few months ago by someone who didn't like Clear, and when he finally found it, it was broken almost beyond repair.  But his dad paid top dollar to have it fixed and he just got it back yesterday when he got home."

Aoba nodded.  That explained it.  Clear had been a lot less jumpy than he normally was, so Aoba guessed that it was because his Allmate was back.  He knew that he would feel completely lost without Ren.

Aoba sat back in his seat and took in the sights around him.  Even though they had only been there for a few minutes, Aoba was already having fun.  The atmosphere and the music was putting him in a good mood.

"So, Koujaku," Mizuki said, tossing Koujaku a lighter when he saw that the scarred boy was pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.  Aoba didn't know that he smoked.  "You know why the Aphrodite Twins suddenly decided to have this party?"

Taking a drag of the cigarette, Koujaku shook his head.  "Not a clue.  They just sent out a message to everyone when and where the party was.  Nobody knows."

Mizuki nodded.  "Sounds like them.  Do they even show up for class anymore?"

"Not that I know of.  They show up in the halls every now and then, but since they basically graduated early, they don't need to show up," Koujaku explained.  "I mean, they're the Student Council Presidents, so it makes sense that they don't want to stop going to school until the actual graduation, but class is too much, I guess."

_Student Council?  I didn't know that they were the presidents..._

Sensing Aoba's confusion, the two looked over. 

"The Twins graduated a year early, but they still show up at the school because they don't want to step down yet.  From the presidency, I mean," Mizuki said.

"Yeah, I got that," Aoba said, rolling his eyes.  "I'm not completely dense, ya know."  The other two started laughing just as Clear came back with his arms full of bottles.  The jellyfish was holding one as well, with four of its tentacles wrapped around the bottle.

"Aoba, the one Kurage is holding is yours.  Its non-alcoholic, since I knew you shouldn't mix your medication with alcohol," Clear said, smiling.  His pink eyes were wide and he looked very happy.  "I only got one for now, in case you don't like it."  He turned to Koujaku and Mizuki and continued, "And for us, the normal."  The two smiled as Clear set down the seven bottles (yes, seven) that he was holding as the jellyfish floated a little closer to Aoba.

"Here you go, Master."  The word threw Aoba for a moment.  Its voice was very much like Clear's, but still had the normal mechanical accent to it.

"Um, thank you," Aoba said taking the chilled bottle for the jellyfish's tentacles.  "But why did you call me 'Master'?"  The jellyfish did a little bob, seemingly confused.

"Because Master is Master...right, Clear?"  It turned to float closer to Clear.

"Kurage, we talked about this," Clear said, putting his hands underneath the Allmate, who floated down to rest on Clear's hands.  "His name is Aoba.  You don't need to call him Master."

"But I heard his voice...and that voice sounded like Master."

Clear sighed.  "Sorry, Aoba.  Ever since I got him back, Kurage has been a little off.  Every time I mention you to him, he seems to think that you're name is Master."  He put a finger on the top of the Allmate's "head", whispered, "Goodnight, Kurage," and turned the jellyfish to sleep-mode.  He then hooked Kurage to his belt.

"Its completely fine," Aoba insisted, "I just didn't expect it."  He cracked open the bottle, and without looking at what exactly it was, took a swig.  What hit his tongue was sweet with a sour aftertaste, almost like a jolly-rancher.  He made a weird face at it.

"Don't like it?" Koujaku asked.  He had also opened one of the drinks Clear had brought and was rolling it between his hands.

"Its not that.  Just...tasted weird at first."

Once again, the other three laughed.  

For the first hour or so they were there, the four went through about half of the drinks, with Clear running off to refill Aoba's drink a few times.  They talked about everything and nothing all at the same time, enjoying the music and each others' company.  After two hours at passed, Mizuki was good and tipsy, as was Koujaku.  They ended up running off to go and dance.  Clear and Aoba ended up staying behind, dancing not really their thing.  Aoba wanted to try it, but was unsure of what to do.

"Aoba, it is ten o'clock.  Would you like to call Sei now?"  Aoba looked down at the ball of fur that had been sitting on his lap, having a conversation with Beni and Sheama.  

_I guess I should check in before it gets too late._

"Hey, Clear?" Aoba said, getting up.  "I'm gonna go call Granny and Sei and let them know whats going on.  I'll be right back, okay?"

Clear nodded and smiled, going back to searching the room for anyone he might know.  Aoba set Ren down and the two made their way through the crowds of people.  He couldn't remember exactly which way the exit was, but after walking around for a while, he found an empty room that was quiet than the main floor.

_This should work_.

As soon as Ren had trotted into the room with him, Aoba shut the door.  Bringing his wrist closer to himself, he pressed a button on his Coil (which was shaped like a wristwatch) to bring up the contacts screen.  After searching for a few seconds, he decided to call the house instead of Sei's Coil.  He didn't want to wake his twin up.  It began to ring.  After three rings, Granny's face popped up on the screen.

_"Oh, Aoba,"_ Granny said, her voice muffled.   _"How are things going?"_

"They're alright.  I'm having fun.  Koujaku and Mizuki went off dancing somewhere, so me and Clear were just sitting at the table.  But I like the music."

Granny nodded.   _"Good."_ She hesitated for a moment.   _"Come home whenever you want, Aoba.  Sei is having a good day.  He hasn't had a single seizure today, and he had quite the appetite at dinner.  So you don't need to worry.  Just have fun, okay?"_

Aoba smiled.  It was very rare that Sei went a whole day without having a seizure.  And the fact that he actually ate more than just a few bites at dinner made Aoba even happier.  "Does this mean that the new medication he's taking is working?"

_"I don't know yet, Aoba, but its looking good so far.  He has an appointment tomorrow to have some tests done, then we'll see."_

"Alright, Granny.  Well, I just wanted to check in.  I should probably get back to Clear so he won't be lonely."

_"Have fun.  And be careful."_

"I will, Granny.  Give Sei a hug for me before you go to bed."

The two said their goodbyes and Aoba ended the call.  Just thinking about the news about Sei made his smile grow wider.  Today really was a good day.

"Alright, Ren," Aoba said, scooping up the pup.  "Let's go and have some more fun."

"Yes."

Aoba laughed at the Allmates answer.  Ren was always so serious.  As he walked out of the room, the sound of the loud techno music hit him again.  It was actually a pleasant feeling.  He was about to turn to walk back the way he came when he saw a flash of lime-green.  He didn't know anyone who would wear such a color other than one person.

_Noiz?_

Aoba looked back towards where he though he saw the color and his eyes fell on the blonde haired boy.  However, it wasn't just seeing Noiz that shocked Aoba.  It was the clothes the boy was wearing.

The shoes looked like winter boots but with a slight heel.  Looking higher, Aoba saw what looked like a pair of black jeans underneath a green and black pair of capri-like pants. Two rows of green and black cubes were connected to his belt and hung over each side. He wore a short sleeved green and black dress shirt with a green tie, two safety pins adorning the tie.  A couple of other pins dotted the shirt.  He had a long sleeved black shirt underneath that and had bandages (yes, bandages) around his hands.  The piercings still dotted his face, and to top it all off, he wore a black and green, woolen beanie with tassels and an insane smiley face pin on the hat.

_What the hell is he wearing?  Seriously, who dresses him?_

Aoba shook his head and was about to walk away when Noiz was approached by two guys.  They were wearing similar clothes and had similar hairstyles.  They had light blonde hair that was slightly spiked in the back and one of them had glasses while the other did not.

_Those must be the the Twins._

As Aoba watched, he saw Noiz talk with the two for a few minutes.  After a while, a girl walked up to them and asked if she could get a picture of the one with glasses and Noiz.  They didn't seem at all surprised with this and even posed for her.  Aoba found this entire exchange very strange.  And as he thought about it some more, he couldn't figure out exactly why he was watching them at all.  He attempted to hide behind a small group of people.

"Aoba, why are you spying on them?" Ren whispered.

Aoba shook his head and didn't answer.  After a little while longer, Noiz waved to them and walked in the opposite direction that Aoba was in.  As soon as he was gone, Aoba stepped out from behind the people.  He didn't care who saw him as long as it wasn't Noiz.  He still couldn't get what Noiz had done out of his head.

Aoba looked down at Ren to see the dog Allmate had his ears down.  He seemed disappointed, almost.

Before he could say anything however, Aoba heard a voice in front of him.

"And who might you be?"

Aoba looked up to see the Twins standing in front of him.  Now that they were closer, he could see that although they dressed alike, they didn't look too much alike.  The one without glasses was taller by almost two inches and was more powerfully built than the other.

When the one with glasses tilted his head to the side, Aoba realized that he was waiting for an answer.

"Uh, Aoba."

The one with glasses smiled and held out a hand.  Aoba took it as the Twin with glasses said, "Ah, you must be the new student that started last week.  We heard about you."

"How are you liking school so far?" the other Twin asked.  He was looking down at Aoba with a smile that almost didn't reach his eyes.  "I heard that this was your first year of school since middle school."

"Uh, its alright.  I mean, I'm still getting used to it, but its...alright."  Aoba didn't know what else to say on the matter.  He was looking down at his hand, which was still firmly in the grasp of Twin with glasses.

"Well, that's good.  I'm Virus, by the way," the one with glasses added.  "This is Trip."  He held out his other hand to the larger Twin, who made a small wave at Aoba.

"Nice to meet you," Trip said, nodding once.

"As your Student Council Presidents," Virus said, his voice taking on a deeper tone.  "We feel its necessary to properly welcome you to our school."

"How about you come with us?" Trip added, his voice just as low.

Aoba blinked, vaguely remembering Clear's warning.  However, he was too confused as to what was happening to say no.  The Twins began pulling and pushing Aoba back towards the room he had just been in.  When Ren started to protest, Trip grabbed the pup by his scruff and plopped him on the floor.  Not even five seconds after, the door was shut and locked behind them, leaving Ren outside the room.

"Aoba!  Aoba!" Ren yelled, hopping on his hind legs to scratch at the door.  But he was just too small and the doors were just too thick.  "I need to find someone."  The pup looked around.  He searched for familiar Allmate signals, but found none.  Koujaku, Clear, and Mizuki were nowhere near where Ren was.  

Starting to panic, the pup started running through the crowd, looking for any familiar person.  He was so afraid that something bad was about to happen to Aoba.  As he searched and searched, only one thought circled Ren's mind.

_Someone please save Aoba!!_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think I strayed too far when I gave Clear an Allmate? I thought it was a good idea since everyone is supposed to have one in the universe I'm creating, since the students have them from the time they begin kindergarten. I feel like this chapter was a bit...off but I'm hoping it turned out alright. The next chapter is gonna have a lot happening, so be prepared.


	6. Savior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You'll just have to read and see because summaries are the death of me....
> 
> Short chapter for you all this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gahhh!!! I don't know anymore....what happened to my plans and ideas. They've abandoned me. Oh, look there they go with all the sleep I could have gotten. I'm sorry. Also, nothing actually happens and yet I could barely write it o////o eep

_Someone please save Aoba!!_

Ren stopped running.  Someone was standing in front of him, and that person looked incredibly familiar.  But from this vantage point, Ren couldn't see much of them.  It wasn't until the person spoke that Ren realized who it was.

"Watch it, mutt."

It was the blonde-haired boy that had glared at Aoba in school and the one who was seen talking to Virus and Trip.  What was his name?

"I need your help."

The blonde raised an eyebrow at the Allmate.  "With what?  And why would I help you?"

"Aoba has been taken by the Twins.  I cannot find anyone else and I cannot get to him alone.  You need to help me."

* * *

Noiz looked down at the dark blue mutt that was glaring at him.  Or at least it looked like he was glaring at him.  Noiz wasn't sure.  The eyes were too dark to tell.

"Did you not hear me?" the mutt said, his abnormally deep voice becoming menacing.  "Aoba needs help."

"I don't know who this person is."  The name sounded familiar, but Noiz wasn't sure.  For some reason, the color amber flashed in his mind.  And as soon as it did, it clicked.

_That kid...the one I could feel..._

Noiz forced his face to remain blank, but in his head, numerous things were flying.  For the first time, Noiz had touched someone and had felt it.  He felt when the blue-haired boy shivered at his touch.  He felt the warmth of his skin and the softness of his hair.  He had felt something.

"Who did you say took him?" Noiz asked the mutt.  He folded his arms over his chest.

"They are called the Aphrodite Twins.  Their names are Virus and Trip.  I am sure you know who they are considering you posed for a picture with one of them."

_Ah, those two._

Noiz leaned down and grabbed the mutt by the studded collar he wore.  Bringing the mutt to his face, he asked, "Where are they?"  Noiz hoped his voice didn't betray the strange anger that was welling up in his chest.  For reasons he could not explain, the thought of those two touching the kid pissed him off.

"In the room not far from where you saw them before."

Noiz nodded.  He knew where that was.  He pulled a cube from the row hanging from his belt and dropped it to the floor.  It bounced a few times, and then let out a high pitched, "P!"

"Make sure the security cameras are faced away from that door."

"P!" the cube answered, doing a flip as it bounced.

Noiz started walking towards that room.  He almost forgot he had the mutt by the collar.  He absently rested the pup against his side as he held it in place with his arm.  Although the mutt sorta annoyed him, he was respectful towards machines.  Dodging the crowd, Noiz soon saw the double doors come into view.

_I am going to get in trouble because of this._

Noiz stopped in front of the doors and put the mutt down.  He tried both the handles, but found them locked.

"As if they would be unlocked," the mutt growled.  "They took Aoba in there so that they wouldn't be disturbed.  Now hurry!"

"Shut up, mutt," Noiz growled back.  

He reared back and kicked the center of the doors forward as hard as he could, breaking the lock.  They swung open with a loud  _bang!_ That's when Noiz saw him.

"Aoba!"

* * *

 

 _What's going on?_ Aoba thought as Virus and Trip led him to a sofa in the back of the room.  He looked back at the doors that had been locked a few seconds ago.  Ren was on the other side of those doors.

As they walked, Trip slipped Aoba's jacket off of him, dropping it to the floor.  Virus was walking in front of him while Trip stayed behind him.  As they got to the sofa, Trip sat down, taking Aoba with him.  Taking Aoba's arms, he wrapped then around his neck and held them there with one arm as Virus was kneeling down on the other end of the sofa.  He took off the jacket of his suit and threw it over the back of the sofa.

"Um, w-what's going o-on?" Aoba stuttered.  He was scared enough that he had begun to shake a little.  

"Oh, we just want to have some fun," Trip whispered in his ear, to which Aoba tried to shift away from him.  However, Trip held him in place.  

"We promise you'll like it," Virus added, leaning forward and slipping a hand under Aoba's shirt.

"Please, stop." Virus had pulled Aoba's shirt up to his armpits and had licked his collarbone.

"But you're just too adorable, Aoba-san," Virus whispered, moving farther down to lick Aoba's nipple lightly.  

Aoba jumped.  He didn't like this.  Why were they doing this to him.  Tears started to well up in his eyes as he tried to push Virus away with his legs.  Unfortunately, Virus held him down.  Trip lightly nipped at Aoba's ear, sending a scared shudder through his body. 

Using the hand that wasn't holding Aoba's arms, Trip traced Aoba's lower lip with his thumb.  He lowered his head to lick the hollow of Aoba's neck, then adding a bite to the mix.  Aoba shuddered again.  A feeling similar to disgust was running rampant through Aoba's body.  He closed his eyes in fear, only to be met with the sound of his belt being undone.  His eyes flew open again, looking down to see Virus undoing the button to his jeans.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the other side of the room.  All three of them looked over to see the doors had been kicked open.

"Aoba!"

"The fuck?" Aoba heard Trip mutter as he reluctantly let go of Aoba's arms.

Seeing the chance, Aoba pushed Virus away as well and jumped off the sofa, sprinting towards the doors and buttoning his pants.  He fixed his belt and his shirt and scooped up his jacket.  It wasn't until he reached the doors that he realized who it was that yelled his name. 

Aoba looked up to see Noiz standing in front of him.  Ren jumped towards the blue-haired boy as Aoba stared at Noiz.

"You alright?" Noiz asked, keeping his eyes on Virus and Trip.  His lime-green eyes seemed dark with an emotion he couldn't identify.

"Y-yeah, I think s-so." Aoba was still shaking.  He picked up Ren and held the Allmate to his chest, burying his face in Ren's fur.  "Thank you."

Aoba felt something touch his ear.  He looked up to see that Noiz had tucked Aoba's hair behind his ear and had run his hand through the rest of it.  It wasn't until then that it sunk in that Noiz's touch didn't hurt.

"Well, well, well.  Noiz, what a surprise."

Aoba turned around to see Virus and Trip walking towards them.  Noiz stepped in front of Aoba, blocking him.

"You guys should know better than to grab a random stranger," Noiz said, smirking.  He didn't want to get on their bad side.  They were the only reason he was able to get away with as much as he did.  

"But he was too cute, we wanted to have a taste," Virus said, smiling.  He put his hands in his pockets and looked at Trip.  "But I guess you're right.  We just got too excited, right, Trip?"

Trip nodded slightly.  He looked at Aoba softly and said, "We apologize, Aoba.  We didn't mean to get so carried away."

Aoba wasn't sure if he should believe them.  However, he nodded anyway.  All he wanted to do was leave that room.

"We'll be going, then," Noiz said, waving to the Twins when he noticed how bad Aoba was actually shaking.

"See you."

"Bye-bye, Aoba-san."

Aoba swallowed and was then led away from the room by Noiz, who had his arm around Aoba's shoulders.  He led Aoba past the dancing crowd, the music as loud as ever, and out of the club entirely.  They walked for a few hundred feet, and then Noiz turned them into an alley and stopped.  He removed his arm and Aoba leaned against the wall of the building, letting out a breath.

"Aoba, are you all right?" Ren asked, putting his paws on Aoba's chest.  "What did they do to you?"

Aoba shook his head and closed his eyes.  "I don't wanna talk about it.  Not right now."  Ren whined quietly and snuggled against Aoba's chest. 

Noiz was standing off to the side.  He looked down at his bandaged hands.  He had felt Aoba's warmth and the amazing softness of his hair, but now he felt nothing once again.  He didn't understand.  Why this kid?  He didn't even like him.  He really didn't like him.

Noiz heard a sniffle and looked up to see tears streaming down Aoba's face.  He glanced away again, feeling awkward.

"Aoba!"

"Yo!"

Aoba looked up suddenly to see Clear, Koujaku, and Mizuki running up to him.  "Guys..."

Clear was the first to reach him, enveloping him in a warm hug.

"What happened to you?"  Clear asked, careful to not squish Ren.  "You went off to call your brother and then you never came back.  And then we heard that the Twins had taken you."  Clear pulled away and Aoba saw the worry written on his face.  When he looked past Clear, he saw Koujaku and Mizuki with the same expression.  But then Koujaku noticed Noiz.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Koujaku bit out, putting a hand on the handle of his sword.  "Were you the one who brought Aoba to them?"

Aoba held out a hand, "Koujaku...no..."  But Koujaku didn't hear him.  He advanced on Noiz.

"What the hell's your problem?" Noiz said, sneering at Koujaku and crossing his arms.  

The next few seconds happened in a flash, so fast that Aoba didn't even have time to react.  Koujaku drew his sword, slashing at Noiz, who dodged it easily by rolling to the side.  He stuck his hands in his pockets and shoved on finger-less, metal gloves.  Gauntlets, maybe?  As he stood up, Noiz put his fists in front of his face, in a block.  

"You really wanna do this here, bitch?" Noiz said, backing out of the alley, Koujaku following.  "I've got my Group to back me up.  What d'you got?"  Just as he said those words, about fifteen guys walked out of the club, led by a green and black, bouncing cube.  They all had matching sneers on their faces and were grouping up behind Noiz.

"Who are they?" Aoba whispered to Clear, who was standing slightly in front of Aoba, just in case.  

"Ruff Rabbit.  Noiz's Group.  They're more of the Rhyme type, but they still know how to fight." Clear looked over at Koujaku, who was holding his sword in one hand in front of him.  "And right now, Koujaku doesn't stand a chance.  None of the Benishigure are here."

Aoba blinked and held Ren a little tighter.  "Shouldn't we stop him?"

"Yeah."  Clear motioned for Mizuki to help him.  Together, they walked up behind Koujaku and each put a hand on Koujaku's shoulder.  "Don't do this here.  You don't have a chance.  Not now."  Clear glanced back at Aoba for a moment and saw how shaken the blue-haired boy looked.  Whatever the Twins did to him had taken its toll.  Clear lowered his voice and said, "Think of Aoba.  We need to get him home.  We don't know what went on with the Twins, but we should just leave it.  Please."  

Koujaku was still glaring at Noiz and Ruff Rabbit, but he knew the Clear was right.  He should be more worried about Aoba than this punk.  He let out a breath and sheathed his sword.

"This isn't over, Noiz."

Noiz laughed once and answered, "Tell me the time and the place and we'll settle this."

"When the time comes, it'll be an official match," Koujaku said, crossing his arms.  Clear walked back and looped his arm through Aoba's, leading the blue-haired boy out of the alley.

Noiz held out his hand, and the cube bounced into it.  "Don't wimp out.  If you do, I'll come find you myself."  Without another word, just a glance to Aoba, Noiz turned around and walked away.

As soon as he was gone, Koujaku turned to Aoba.  

"Are you okay?" he wondered, putting a hand on Aoba's arm.

Aoba nodded.  "I guess so.  But I wanna go home."

"Yeah, we'll get you home."  Koujaku looked at Mizuki and added, "I know that we aren't part of the same group, but let your members know about this.  Keep an eye on Ruff Rabbit."  Mizuki nodded and waved goodbye.  Koujaku could see that Mizuki was just as pissed as he was, but Mizuki had a better handle on his emotions.

As they walked Aoba home, Clear and Koujaku exchanged glances periodically, making sure that one of them had hold of Aoba at all times.

"Don't tell Granny, okay?" Aoba whispered.  He had is head low, his bangs covering his eyes.  Ren was staring up at him, worry apparent in his dark eyes.  "If she finds out, she'll take me out of school.  And I don't wanna quit just because of this."

Clear rested his head on Aoba's shoulder and answered, "Don't worry, we'll just say that the crowd and music got to be a bit much for you and you wanted to come home."

Aoba nodded.  "Thank you."

"I know you may not want to talk about it," Koujaku suddenly said, looking over at Aoba, "But you'll have to tell us what went on.  All of it."

Aoba nodded once again.  "When we get to my house, you guys can come up to my room and I'll tell you."

His friends nodded and the three of them walked the rest of the way in silence.

Although he said nothing, Aoba's mind was running a mile a minute.  They did warn him about the Twins, and he should have been more careful.  But he couldn't completely blame the Twins either.  They just did what they found to be fun, and they probably thought that Aoba was just faking being afraid.  Aoba had heard of people doing that to them before.  But then his mind went to Noiz, who had come to his rescue.  Why would he have done that?  Ren had been with him, so maybe the Allmate had went to find him.  But why had Noiz actually helped?  He thought that the blonde hated him.  

_The way he touched my hair...it was like he had been worried about me...it had been so gentle._

Aoba sighed and shook his head.  It didn't matter about the touch.  What mattered was the reasoning behind it.

He had a feeling that his savior had ulterior motives...


	7. Late Night Ramblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Aoba and Sei cuteness is on its way!! Oh, and a new (new? Yeah, sure, new) character. And I have no idea if the chapter name works for this chapter, but I suck at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty uneventful chapter, but it'll be cute. and then weird.

When they reached Aoba's house, it seemed as if Granny and Sei had gone to bed.  As they walked in, however, they saw a light on in the kitchen.

"I'm home," Aoba said, kicking off his shoes and putting Ren down.  Walking into the kitchen, Aoba saw that his grandmother was sitting at the table, glasses on the end of her nose as she read a book.

"Ah, Aoba," Granny said, taking the glasses off and standing up.  "How was the party?  And why are you home so early?"

Aoba remained silent, not sure what to say.  Thankfully, Koujaku and Clear were there to back him up.

"There was a lot of people and Aoba seemed to be getting a little overwhelmed," Clear explained, and Aoba was relieved that it wasn't exactly a lie.  He was overwhelmed...he just wasn't going to tell his grandmother the exact reason why.  "We decided to call it a night."

Granny gave Aoba a thoughtful look, but nodded and replied, "Well, I'm glad you got home safely.  Sei has already gone to bed, so I'm sorry you weren't able to say goodnight."  She turned her attention to Clear and Koujaku, the latter being abnormally quiet.  Aoba suspected it had to do with the near-fight with Noiz.  "You two are welcome to stay for a little longer.  Tomorrow is Sunday, so Aoba doesn't need to be in bed yet."

"Thank you," Clear said, giving her a warm smile.  "We won't stay too long."

Granny nodded and proceeded to say goodnight as she walked out into the hallway.  As soon as they heard a door upstairs shut, Aoba sunk into one of the kitchen chairs.  Clear and Koujaku sat down as well.  Ren jumped into Aoba's lap and curled up, swishing his tail slowly.  

Sighing, Aoba looked up at his friends.  "I'm sorry about what happened.  I didn't mean to make you guys worry.  And I didn't heed your warning, and I should have.  If I hadn't have been so stupid this wouldn't have happened.  I really am-"

"Stop it," Koujaku interrupted, forcefully.  "It wasn't your fault.  Although we did warn you, the Twins would have tried something like this eventually.  I guess it was better that it happened somewhere that could be reached easily."  He paused for a second and Aoba saw his fist clench, his knuckles turning white.  "But the fact that that brat is the one that brought you to them just pisses me off all the more."

"No, that's not it!" Aoba said, growing a little defensive.  He didn't understand why Koujaku thought that Noiz was behind this.  Sure, they didn't get along, but this seemed a little too much.  "He's the one who  _saved_ me.  If not for him, they might have actually succeeded."

"Aoba is speaking the truth," Ren interjected.  He looked over the table at the surprised Koujaku.  "I was the one who brought Noiz to Aoba in the first place."

Clear blinked and leaned towards the blue-haired boy.  "Noiz wasn't responsible?"

Aoba quickly shook his head, his bangs once again falling over his eyes.  Clear's pink eyes showed relief, but he still had a worried expression.  Koujaku still seemed angry, but less hostile.  

"As soon as the Twins had taken Aoba away," Ren began, feeling as if he should explain things since Aoba seemed reluctant to.  "I started to run around looking for the two of you by the signals of your Allmates, but I could not see any of you.  I ran into Noiz by pure happenstance.  I recognized him from when Aoba and I had seen him just before he was taken by the Twins.  As soon as I mentioned that it was Aoba that needed help, Noiz immediately went into action."  He paused and gave Koujaku a hard look.  "Noiz  _protected_ Aoba."

Koujaku sighed.  He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair, his long bangs sliding back towards his ear.  Aoba was able to see Koujaku's other eye for the first time.  He saw that there was indeed a tattoo around his eye.  It had a slight tribal feel to it.  "I still don't like it," Koujaku muttered, drawing Aoba back to the present.  "Noiz never does anything without thinking of a way to be compensated.  He probably has a plan to get you back for him rescuing you."

Aoba looked down at the pup in his lap and nodded slightly.  "Yeah," he whispered.  "I know.  I felt like he had some kind of motive."

The three were silent for a while, each thinking things over.  It wasn't until Clear looked up that the silence was broken.

"Aoba..."  Clear looked at the blue haired boy, nervously.  "I know you may not want to talk about it...but what did the Twins do to you?  You looked really shaken up earlier."

Aoba blinked and let out a shuddering breath.  "You're right," Aoba agreed.  "I don't want to talk about it."

"But..."

"But I guess I have to," Aoba said, looking up with a new kind of fierceness that neither Koujaku or Clear had seen from their friend before.  "They...held me down and tried to do things to me.  Nothing actually happened, because right before they did, Noiz kicked the door in.  Before Noiz and I left them, they apologized and said that they got carried away; they said that they shouldn't have done what they did."

"Do you believe them?" Clear said, looking hard at Aoba. 

"I don't know.  But the fact that they let me go says something, doesn't it?"

"Maybe," Koujaku answered.  "Either way, keep your guard up whenever you're alone, or if they are around.  I can have some of my group members keep an eye out if you want."

Aoba nodded, suddenly very tired.  He felt a light headache coming up, but that was probably the adrenaline or whatever other chemical that had kept him from passing out wearing off.  Either way, he pulled his pills out of his pocket and took the normal two.

"Well, we should get going," Koujaku said, noticing how tired Aoba suddenly looked.  "I'll check in tomorrow and call you or something, okay?"

"Same here," Clear said, his pink eyes soft.  Aoba could tell how much they had actually been worrying about him.  Nodding, Aoba stood up to show his friends out.

"Try and get some rest."  Koujaku put a hand on Aoba's cheek, resting it there.  It reminded Aoba of when Noiz had touched him earlier, but it was different.  Although Koujaku's touch wasn't all that unpleasant, Noiz's had felt...softer, and it felt safe, almost.  Nonetheless, Aoba nodded and smiled, not wanting to worry the scarred boy anymore.  

"Goodnight," Aoba called as his friends walked down the road.  As soon as they were gone, he shut the door and walked back into the kitchen.  "Man, I'm exhausted."  He picked up Ren, who had switched to sleep mode at one point.  He would never understand how Ren managed to do it on his own.  A silly image of the ball of fur trying to put his paw on his own forehead flashed through Aoba's mind, making him chuckle.  Carrying the Allmate, Aoba walked up the stairs and into his room.  Not caring about changing into pajamas, the took his jacket off and flopped onto his bed, pulling Ren to his chest.  Even though the dog didn't have a heartbeat, a strange warmth always radiated from him.  

_I wonder what time it is..._

He pulled up the clock on his coil and saw that it was about one in the morning.  

_I haven't been up this late in quite a while.  I should try and get some sleep._

Closing his eyes, Aoba tried to regulate his breathing, forcing himself into a state of calm.

* * *

 

Noiz walked through the empty streets of the residential district.  He hadn't been here in months.  He didn't even remember getting here.  His thoughts had gotten the better of him and his feet had taken over whatever plan he originally had.  It was almost eerily quiet, save for the occasional "P!" from Usagimodoki, his Allmate.  

After a few more minutes of "P!" Noiz turned around to see the bunny cube bouncing along behind him.

"You wanna be carried?  Is that why you're making so much noise?"  Noiz paused for a moment and then snorted at the word.  Even he realized how strange it was to say that word and not have it mean his name.  It was borderline amusing.

"That's not it, p!" the cube said, its high pitched voice bouncing off the walls of buildings.  "Someone is following us, p!  And I was trying to warn you, p!"

With every "P!", Noiz flinched.  Sometimes he regretted settings its voice like that, but remembered that he did that so he would always be able to tell where the damn thing was, since it had a history of bouncing off somewhere it wasn't needed.  He reached down and picked the bunny cube up.

"Got any Allmate signals?"

"I am picking up two signals, p!  I cannot tell who they are, however, p!"

"Can you tell the sizes of the Allmates?"

"One is very large and the other is small, p!"

"Well, well.  Surprise meeting you here, Noiz."

Noiz looked up to see two figures standing about a hundred feet from him.  He couldn't see their faces, but he could see the shape of their Allmates, giving away who they were.  Stepping into the reach of a streetlight, the huge black lion continued to advance on him although the other three remained where they were.  

"Welter."

The lion stopped in his tracks and swung his head back at Trip.  Welter huffed, but turned around and walked back towards Trip.

"What are you doing here, Noiz?" Virus asked, a black snake coiling around him.  This was Hersha, Virus's Allmate.  

Noiz snorted.  "I could ask you the same question.  You don't live around here.  Or were you looking for me?"

"You could say that," Trip agreed, putting a hand on Welter's head.  "We just wanted to ask you a question is all."

_It's probably about Aoba._

Noiz nodded to show that they could continue.

"We were just wondering what connection you have to Aoba-san.  Not that it matters.  We were just curious as to why you, the one who hates complicated things, would get involved with a person like Aoba-san."

Something in the way Virus said the sentence made Noiz suspicious.  Aoba didn't seem complicated.  He was a new kid who owed his some money.

_You know its more than that, stop being stupid._

Noiz said nothing for a few moments.  "I have no connection with him other than that he owes me some money.  And what do you mean, 'A person like him'?" Noiz finally said, crossing his arms and almost crushing Usagimodoki.  The bunny cube bounced out of his arms and onto his shoulder.  

"So you don't know?" Trip asked, his eyes growing wide.  "Well, that's a surprise.  I would have thought that you would have done your research by now."

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, Trip," Virus warned, putting a hand on his arm.  He then turned his attention to Noiz, who was glaring at them in suspicion.  "Well, that's all we wanted to know."  He began to turn around and walk away, but then stopped and looked back at Noiz.  "The boy is special.  And you would do well to not get in our way."  With not another word from either of them, Virus and Trip receded back into the darkness.

_Special?_ Noiz thought to himself.   _I wonder what they meant._

Shaking his head, he began his walk home, swearing to do some digging on just who Aoba Seragaki was.

* * *

 

Twenty minutes after he had gone up to lie down, Aoba jolted into a sitting position.  Before he could stop himself, he ruffled up his hair and cried, "I can't fucking sleep!"  Then he felt the pain in his hair and regretted it.  Ren was still in sleep mode, thankfully.  He hated waking the Allmate up in the middle of the night.  Aoba groaned and stood up.  "I might as well get some water.  Maybe that'll help."

Leaving Ren on his bed, Aoba made his way downstairs and into the kitchen.  Seeing that Sei's door was open, he kept the kitchen light off.  He didn't want to wake up his twin.

Grabbing a glass from the cupboard, Aoba turned on the tap and filled it up.  After taking a few sips, he heard a groan come from Sei's room.  Aoba put the glass down a quietly walked into his twin's room.  Sei was curled up on his side, the blanket wrapped around his legs.  His shoulder length, black hair was splayed out around his head.  Sei groaned again.  Looking at his face, Aoba saw that he was crying.

_He must be having another nightmare._

Sei had been prone to nightmares, usually about the accident.  Aoba couldn't remember what happened, but Sei had been conscious through most of it.  Because of that, Sei had recurring nightmares about it happening again, but losing Aoba and Granny instead.

Seeing how scared his twin looked, Aoba sat on the floor next to the bed and started running the fingers of his left hand through Sei's hair, hoping that it would calm him down.  For a while, nothing changed.  But then Sei's eyes suddenly flew open as if the nightmare had ended suddenly.

His eyes focusing, Sei looked at Aoba.

"Aoba?" Sei whispered, a confused look in his dark eyes.  He still seemed to be half-asleep.  "What's going on?  I thought you were at the party?"

Aoba smiled softly.  It was times like these that Aoba realized just how much he missed being with his brother all the time.  "I decided to come home early."

Sei got up on his elbows, a worried look crossing his face.  "Why?  Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Aoba paused.  He couldn't lie to his brother, even if it was just lying by omission.  He sighed and shook his head, his blue hair shifting.  "I don't know."

Sei scooted himself farther back on the bed, signaling for Aoba to lie down next to him.  They hadn't done this in a while.  Granny said that they were too old for it, but it always made the both of them feel comfortable.  Aoba got into bed with his brother, pulling the blanket up over both of them.  While Sei was lying on his right side, Aoba was on his left, so the two could look at each other.  Sei reached up and began playing with the hair just behind Aoba's ears.

"So did something happen?" Sei asked, keeping his voice low.

Aoba shrugged.  "I guess you could say that."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Though he paused, Aoba nodded.  He needed to get it all off his chest.  Taking a breath, Aoba began to tell Sei what happened from the very beginning, leaving no detail out.  At one point, Aoba could see the anger in Sei's eyes.

"How could they do that?  What the hell is wrong with them?  You asked them to stop!"

Aoba nodded, but kept talking.  Before long, he came to the part where Koujaku and Noiz had almost gotten into a fight.

"And that was it.  But I keep thinking to myself, why did Noiz come after me?  I mean, yeah, Ren went and got him, but why did he even listen to Ren.  Noiz hates me!"  Pausing, Aoba realized that he hadn't told Sei about Noiz and his hair.  "And...there's something else..."

Sei raised an eyebrow.  "What do you mean?"

Aoba sat up for a minute and look down at his hands.  "Well...there was an incident at school the other day, and I got trapped in a closet with Noiz.  But what matters about that is that...at that time, and when Noiz saved me tonight, he had run his hand through my hair."  

Sei suddenly sat up, feeling protective.  Neither of them liked people touching their hair, unless it was each other.  Sometimes the pain could be unbearable.  

"But..." Aoba said, looking into his brother's eyes, suddenly unsure.  Though Sei was soft-spoken and usually pretty quiet, he was very protective of Aoba.  And at times, he could be very impulsive.  "It didn't hurt."

Sei's eyes grew almost impossibly wide.  "What?"

"It...didn't hurt," Aoba repeated, sighing.  "I felt it, but it felt...good.  There was no pain...it was a soft, warm feeling.  I've never had that happen with anyone other than you.  I just...don't get it.  Koujaku accidentally touched my hair earlier, and it was uncomfortable.  But with Noiz, I wanted him to...do it more.  I don't know.  It was strange."

Sei sighed.  "I remember Granny saying something a long time ago that if someone touches our hair and it doesn't it, it means that we have some kind of unbreakable connection with that person.  I mean, with you and me, we're twins.  So it makes sense, but..." He paused, trying to choose his words carefully.  "From what you have told me about Noiz so far...you need to be careful.  You don't know what kind of connection it is...it could be bad or it could be good.  So you need to make sure of his intentions before you make any rash decisions."

Aoba looked down at his hands again and laughed quietly.  "You don't have to tell me that."

"I know, I just felt like it."  Sei wrapped his arms around his brother.  "I'm just worried about you being away all day.  I'm not used to it."  Aoba hugged his brother back tightly and buried his face in Sei's neck.  Sei was always so warm.  He really hoped that the new medication Sei had been taking was really going to work.  He didn't want anything to happen to his brother.  

After a few minutes, they decided to lie back down and Aoba snuggled against his brother, the black-haired twin playing with Aoba's hair.  Sei was only a few minutes older than Aoba, but sometimes it felt like Sei was much more mature.  Aoba relied on him for so many things that sometimes it made Aoba feel like a little kid.  But Sei was always there for him whenever he needed it, and for that Aoba was grateful.  They began talking about how school was going for Aoba.  They talked for what seemed like hours, catching up on what the other missed.  It didn't take long for the both of them to grow tired and fall asleep.  This was the most comfortable either of them had been in weeks.  

* * *

 

In the few moments that existed between sleep and waking, Aoba started to smell something delicious.  Becoming fully awake, he sat up slowly, confused.  He wasn't in his room.  It wasn't until he looked down that he saw that his hand was tightly in the grasp of Sei's hand.

_Oh, yeah.  I fell asleep down here._

Pulling his hand lightly from Sei's grip, Aoba stood up and walked into the kitchen.  As usual Granny was at the stove, making breakfast.

"Morning," Aoba said, yawning and stretching.

"Good morning, Aoba.  Did you really sleep in Sei's room last night?" Granny asked, giving Aoba a strange look.  

Aoba blinked.  He looked back at the room he had just walked out of, then he looked at his grandmother.  "Well...yeah."

Granny rolled her eyes and went back cooking whatever it was she had in front of her.  "You haven't done that in a while.  Were you upset about something?"

Aoba shrugged.  He really didn't want to tell his grandmother everything.  It wouldn't end well.  Running a hand through his hair to try and get any tangles out he said, "I just needed to vent about some stuff.  I was a little stressed out and Sei helped me feel better."

"You woke him up?"

"No, he woke himself up.  He was having a nightmare so I tried to comfort him and he woke up on his own."

Granny nodded.  "That's good."  Aoba walked over to the cupboard and pulled down three plates for them all.  He knew Granny was going to ask him.  She always did since Aoba usually woke up before Sei.  Which, when Aoba thought about it, seemed hilarious because Sei was more of a morning person than Aoba would ever be.  The thought made him chuckle.  He was pulled back to Granny when she said, "Go wake up Sei so we can have breakfast and then get ready."

Aoba started walking back towards Sei's room and then stopped.  "Ready for what?" he asked, eyebrows raised.  "Do I have to go to?"

Granny rolled her eyes again and replied, "I just told you last night, Aoba.  Sei has an appointment today to figure out how the new medication is working.  And I actually want you to stay home this time.  I have some errands that I was you to do.  They shouldn't take much longer than an hour or two, so you could probably hang out with your friends."

Aoba nodded and walked into Sei's room.  His twin was curled up in a tight ball, but he looked very comfortable.

"Sei," Aoba called quietly, shaking his shoulder lightly.  "Its time for breakfast.  Granny says its time to get up."

Sei moaned and turned over on his other side.  "I don't wanna."

"Come on.  You gotta get up."  Aoba pulled on his brother, trying to get him to roll back over.  "Granny says that you have to."  Aoba paused.  This wasn't working.  There was only one thing that would get Sei out of bed.  "Hey, Sei..." Aoba said, an evil grin on his face.  "Granny says that if you don't get up, she'll put raisins in your pancakes."  At the word, Sei bolted up right.  He  _hated_ raisins...and grapes.  

"Okay, I'm up!"  

Aoba laughed and went to the end of Sei's bed to grab his wheelchair.  "Good."  He unfolded the chair and set it down next to the bed so Sei could scoot into it.  As soon as Sei was all settled, Aoba put a blanket over Sei's legs and then started to wheel him out of the room.  Just before they passed through the doorway, Aoba leaned down and whispered in Sei's ear, "Oh, and I was lying about the raisins."

"Aoba!" Sei yelled, turning slightly to smack Aoba's arm.  "Stop doing that to me!"  Aoba laughed as Sei smacked him again.

"I'm sorry!  I'm sorry!" he cried, continuing to giggle, "But it was the only way to get you out of bed!"

Aoba stopped Sei where he usually sat and went around the table to get to his spot.  Granny had already laid out all the food, so all they had to do was sit down.  As soon as everyone was sitting, Aoba realized that Granny had cooked an American meal for breakfast, which was different.  Shrugging, his picked up his fork (he guessed Granny was going all out this morning) and the three of them said, "Itadakimasu!" and started digging in.

Once breakfast was done, Aoba helped Sei take a bath and not long after that, Granny and Sei had left.  Once they were gone, the house was very quiet.  

Suddenly, Aoba remembered something.

_Ren!_

He booked it up the stairs and into his room to find Ren right where Aoba had left him the night before, on Aoba's pillows.  Aoba picked up the fluffy pup and tapped his forehead, waking him up.

"Good Morning, Aoba," Ren immediately said, but the paused as a strange look passed over his face.  "It is no longer morning.  It is almost noon.  Why didn't you wake me up?"

Aoba gave his Allmate an apologetic look and answered, "I slept in Sei's room last night.  And then Granny rushed us into breakfast because she wanted to leave early for Sei's appointment."

The Allmate nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer.  "So what are your plans for today?"

Aoba sat down on his bed and rested the pup in his lap.  "Well," he began, "Granny has a list of errands she wants me to run.  Other than that, no plans whatsoever.  Have I gotten any messages recently?"

Ren became silent for a moment ans then answered, "No.  Other than the normal junk emails, you have not received anything of value."

Aoba nodded.  He should probably get started on those errands.  But he had to take a shower first...

"Ugh!" Aoba groaned as he flopped back on his bed.  This was going to be a weird day.

* * *

 

"The first location you have given me is in the economical district."

"Yeah, I know.  I just don't know how to get there," Aoba replied.  He and Ren were on their third errand out of six.  The first two were fairly easy, dropping off prescriptions to a few neighbors.  But this one was different.  Granny needed a new part for something, and since it was an old part, Aoba would have to go to a Junk-Shop to get it.  They had been popping up everywhere lately, but only one of them was fairly close.

"There are no roadblocks between here and there," Ren said, looking off into the distance.  Aoba knew that he was mentally looking at a map.  "However, there is a large crowd in front of a video game store.  Apparently there has been a new download for Rhyme that you can only get by going to the store."

Aoba chuckled.  "Wow, that's old-school.  You don't hear about people personally buying games hand to hand anymore."

Ren gave him the easiest way to avoid the crowd and soon enough, they saw the shop coming into view.  The sign on it said, "Junk Shop Heibon." 

"Huh," Aoba whispered, stopping in front of the shop.  "What a weird name."  Shrugging, Aoba pushed open the door and heard an old-fashioned cowbell ring.  Something else old-fashioned.  As Aoba walked through the front of the shop, he looked at all the merchandise.  Some of the stuff there he hadn't seen in years.

"Welcome to Heibon."

Aoba looked up to see a pink cockatoo sitting on a bar just a few feet in front of him.  It had a deep voice, almost as deep as Ren's.  "Uh, thank you," Aoba replied.  It was an Allmate, that much he was certain.  As he looked at the bird some more, he saw that it had an eye-patch as well as some native looking beads around its neck.  It wasn't until a few seconds later that something made a noise behind the bird.

Aoba leaned to his right and saw a very large man sitting behind a counter. His dreadlocks were pulling up into a ponytail and he had a pink bandana around his head.  He looked native, which explained the beads the bird was wearing.

"Uh, hi..." Aoba said, walking up to the counter.  He looked down at the paper Granny had left for him.  "I'm looking for an S Series part for an older model PC."

The man nodded and tapped a couple keys on the keyboard in front of him, bring up a page full of items.  "We have three of them in stock right now.  How many do you need?"  Yet another person who had a deep voice.

_This is starting to get out of hand._

Aoba looked down at his paper again and then said, "One...I think.  She didn't really say."

The man grunted and then stood up.  As he did, Aoba saw that the man was quite a bit taller than him.  He walked past Aoba and over to a shelf, taking a box off of it and tossing it to Aoba.  He then walked back over to the counter and pointed to a scanner that was sitting there.  "Slide your coil over it to pay."

Aoba nodded and did so.  Aoba thanked the man and was about to leave when he saw a paper taped to the back of the computer.  It was a help wanted sign.  Thinking back to when Granny said he should get a part-time job, Aoba blinked.  He looked down at Ren, who had also seen the paper.

"Do you think I should ask about it?" Aoba wondered.  "I mean, she did tell me to get a job right?"

Ren swished his tail.  "It wouldn't hurt to inquire as to the hours and such."

"Good idea."

Aoba turned back around to look at the man, who had gone back to reading the book in his lap.  "Um, excuse me?"  The man looked up at Aoba and grunted in reply.  "I was wondering about the sign you have up.  I was wondering about what the job was."

The man glanced at the paper and let out an annoyed breath.  "I told him that I didn't need help," the man muttered.  "My boss is apparently looking for another person to man the counter so I can do inventory three days a week.  Also, we do deliveries, and we always need someone in the shop.  So that's basically it.  It would be every day, with minimum wage.  You wouldn't have to work weekends unless we call you."

Aoba nodded.  That actually seemed okay.  As long as he had Ren, he could go anywhere.  He was sure that Granny would be okay with it.  But there was one problem.  "Um, I have school during the week, but I would be able to come in afterwards."

The man nodded and pulled a paper out from a drawer.  He picked up a pen and started asking Aoba questions.

"Have you had a job before?  And if so, where and for how long."

"Never had one."

"Hours you could work each day?"

"From 3:30 to 8:30, afternoon to evening."

"Anything that would keep you from working on the weekends if needed?"

"Nope."

The man nodded and then turned the paper around, handing the pen to Aoba.  "Write down contact information: phone number, address, emergency contact, date of birth.  Stuff like that."

Aoba began writing and when he was done, the man took the paper and scanned it into the computer.

"You'll start working on Wednesday, if you're available." Aoba nodded and then the man held out his hand.  "The name's Mink.  Welcome to Junk Shop Heibon."  Aoba shook his hand and nodded.  It was as he did so that he realized what time it was.

"Crap!  I gotta get to that store before it closes!" Aoba yelled, bowing to Mink as a thank you and then running out of the store.  

Running as fast as he could, a smile spread across his face.

_I got a job all by myself!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter is going to be hard for me to write....... O//////O oh boy


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